Adelaide hunted down by Cats

The dominant forward presence of Tom Hawkins and a standout midfield performance from captain Joel Selwood has seen Geelong walk away 27-point winners at Simonds Stadium. The Cats’ victory came at some expense, however, with Steve Johnson being concussed at the opening bounce and Joel Corey injuring a hamstring in the 2nd quarter.

Geelong’s win proves that the classy veterans such as James Kelly, Paul Chapman and Corey Enright are all ready to have the Cats challenging once again come finals. This was also aided by strong performances from the younger Cats, with Hawkins and Allen Christensen playing well; Hawkins had three goals while Christensen picked up 23 touches through the middle.

Adelaide, on the other hand, struggled for much of the game. Although the Crows kicked the opening two goals of the match, a second quarter which saw Geelong kick five of six goals made things incredibly difficult. The Crows fought back, but collapsed midway through the final term which allowed the Cats to run away comfortably.

However, such a performance was not for the want of attempts, with Scott Thompson picking up 40 disposals in his accumulator style and Patrick Dangerfield getting 33 touches. However, the return of Taylor Walker was not to plan, with the forward returning three behinds despite grabbing a few on Tom Lonergan.

The win sees Geelong solidify their finals chances, moving up to sixth with Essendon’s percentage loss, while Adelaide have dropped to third due to Hawthorn’s percentage gain.

Adelaide play Essendon at AAMI Stadium next Saturday, while Geelong take on Hawthorn next Friday night.